DICOM SOPs: Basic

Abstract

DICOM networking is the glue that holds any medical imaging system together. While most of us used to think about DICOM as a simple medical image file format, it really is a much broader standard that directs all facets of the clinical workflow and goes far beyond the scope of managing formats for image files. The entire digital medical universe is created and populated by DICOM objects as they travel and interact through computer networks. Interestingly enough, DICOM networking has been laid out in the standard well before computer networks came into existence. Part PS3.9 of the standard (Point-to-Point Communication Support for Message Exchange) was using old-fashioned pin cables to interconnect DICOM devices. All this, including PS3.9 itself, has vanished with the introduction of modern networking hardware and protocols, which have become the foundation for contemporary DICOM data exchange.